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Starting a business
Starting a business requires certain prerequisites, a bit of careful planning and working on your idea. You should also be mentally prepared to run and manage a business as starting and managing any business requires a level of managerial skills to manage yourself and your staff. You must be able to understand the technical and economic issues involved, and should be able to clearly see whether the business venture is technically feasible and economically viable. At the same time, any business should have potentials to grow otherwise it will degenerate into a losing proposition. Thus, you should be motivated to succeed and grow. You will also have to examine certain aspects of your business idea. You will have to research on the following lines: *The product you want to market or the service you plan to provide. *You will have to explore the market in which you will operate, and assess the potentials for marketing the product or the service. *You will have to see around to identify your competitors and their strength as compared to you. *The skill sets you will require including the availability of the manpower to assist you in running your business. *The financial outlays which you will initially require. Every business has a gestation period and a break even point. You should be able to arrange finances to support you till the business becomes profitable. Basics ; Guidance & support In most of the cases, you will not be able to do all the researches and pre-launch activities yourself. You will have to create a core team of persons, few or more, depending on the size of proposed business venture. You may also take guidance and support from the trade and business associations of your area, the assistance from the functionaries of the respective government departments. In most of the countries, you will find Small Business Officer or equivalent functionaries in your area who may guide you. Sometimes, seminars and workshops are also conducted in which you may participate to learn and network prior to starting a business. Similarly, you may find Small Business Center (or an office with some other name) where you may get free advice. ; New or existing Once you are done with your idea and have collected all the required information, you are almost ready for the show – to start a business. However, you should examine and assess between starting a business from the scratch or buying out an existing business. Both have their plus and negative points. For example, with an existence business, a number of pre-operative things may not arise like securing a license, getting the business registered with statutory authorities, securing a place to house the business, and so on. The existing business may come with goodwill, that is, it will have a standing in the community and the market. Sometimes, the existing business may be running at a loss and you will have the prospect of analyzing the reasons for the loss and take necessary steps to turn the business into a profitable venture. Starting a new business has other types of challenges like finding a place and staff, getting all the licenses and registrations, learning about the product or the service, and then moving into a business venture and learn by experience. ; Organization There are many types of ownership structures. Depending on you inclination and the requirement of a particular type of business, you may select an ownership structure. For a small grocery shop, sole proprietorship or sole ownership is fine. You may also consider a partnership. On the other hand, if you are going for something big, like a large manufacturing company requiring huge financial outlay, it is advisable to take the route of a limited company where there shall be many shareholders, and you may be one of the large shareholders with controlling stake. Other aspects Apart from these basic matters, starting a business has other aspects too including the following: *Business plan *Arranging finance *Legal compliance *Business Accounting External resources *Several trade organizations and governments have build checklists for persons interested in starting a business. One such checklist may be fount at: New Business Checklist of Australian Government. *Get ideas on how to find money to start a business Finding Money by John Whiteley, CGA,CMA founder of Small Business Navigator website